Another complete rewrite of the core, and more features added. We had some initial pains at release, but most of them should be worked out now. I'll continue to monitor and fix things as needed. Thanks to all who helped test and report bugs.

After a whirlwind amount of work, both coding, and testing, this new version is now being released. It contains even more code rewriting than the client rewrite, by far, as it was a complete server port/rewrite. Huge thanks to everyone that helped test and provide bug reports and feedback! I especially want to thank RistVaLL for going above and beyond with his help testing and spearheading various groups in continued testing of specific elements. That said, there are numerous client updates in this release as well, including some long-standing bug fixes.

With most of these balancing tweaks, new players will find it considerably easier to play the game, especially up to mid-MQ point.

Since this is a complete rewrite, below is only some of the more prominent and important changes to the user side of things:

Ladder Slasher now supports and uses secure websockets (wss)

You can now edit your market item cost until the item expires instead of the previous 2 hour limit

Scaling of catacomb size now starts at 5x5 increasing to the same max of 40x25. This is a change from the starting size of 10x10. Scaling still reaches the maximum size around level 74/75.

Item drop chances now carry over for each monster, to create a more eventual "guaranteed drop" algorithm

You can now level up from doing skills (fishing, cooking, glyphing, transmuting, suffusencing)

Suffusencing random click events now occur approximately 15% more often which makes this skill slightly easier to get higher values and more proficiency

/find players no longer returns yourself if applicable

Added a new command to toggle single player "easy mode": /set easy [1|0]

This feature determines how many monsters spawn when you are playing solo. In easy mode, only 1-2 regular monsters will spawn, and only 1 evil presence at a time. Regular mode is 1-3 monsters or evil presences. This feature is enabled by default until you complete your first Master Quest of the current season.

To see your current single player mode: /set easy

To enable: /set easy 1

To disable: /set easy 0

This does not save between character changes/logouts. You must re-issue this command as desired if you change characters or logout.

Abilities Twohitback, Doublestrike and Doublecast are fixed and will not hit one monster twice, but hit two targets as stated

Recipient Heal Mastery now adds into the bonus to the amount healed if someone else heals you

Jubilance now gives +Experience every time you hit a monster, calculated as roughly Jubilance * Monster Difficulty %

Evil Wells now have a chance to disintegrate when used and the evil monster spawn is defeated

Evil Presences have a higher chance to drop at least one item

Client: The mini-map on maps is now drawn in a darker color (near black) instead of white

Added a flood control error warning for actions that otherwise were silently dropped by the server before

Client bug fixed: When inserting a rod into the fishing rod box, then removing it (ctrl-click) and fished, the client would think it was still there and if you failed the fishing would incorrectly state your rod broke and shadow remove the item from your inventory. On refresh it was still there. Fixed, the client now correctly knows you're no longer using a fishing rod.

Maps can now spawn with +Evil Wells

Increased drop rate of heavy weapons

Client: Fixed a 3d maze rendering bug where the nearest front facing walls would not show up in 3 or 4 way intersections if you were facing east or west

Fixed a bug that would allow monsters that could double strike to double kill you

Azapnid now hides a little better when he uses the Illusion ability

Decreased Heavy Weapon attack speed from 2 seconds to 1.8 seconds

Client: Gold amount in upper right corner is now properly capped at two decimal places

Mirror Maze: The dopplegangers will now always mimic your gear

Level one maps now spawn the correct map size

Using a heal charm no longer takes up mana if the target is already fully healed

Increased chance for Ambush! objective to spawn

Market items will now be permanently deleted if not collected after 6 months

Added a will be deleted line on profile market items if an item is expired to indicate when it will be deleted

Thanks again to everyone that took so much time to help test this in the beta phase, especially phase 1 where we climbed to MQ in "ironman" mode. I hope you all enjoyed it, and enjoy the new release, and releases to come!

- Fixed a client side bug where accessory items would add bonus stats to your character that did not actually apply. (Life/Mana Regen, Jubilance [exp] bugs)- Experience on the character stats window now updates for experience events (jubilance, monster kills, skilling, etc)

- Fixed cannot attack bug that would sometimes randomly occur when changing attack type (mobile and pc)- White items can now be sold on the marketplace- Added a few more hook points for new bonus events

Greetings all! I am pleased to announce the release of v1.30.0 of Ladder Slasher. This is probably the biggest update to date, with a complete client rewrite being part of it.Below is a summary of the changes, and is not an exhaustive description of every change. If every little detailed change was documented, this document would be dozens of pages long.

(It is highly recommended that you play this version in Softcore before you try Hardcore. Some UI elements have changed compared to past versions.)

Platform/UI:

Game client changed from Flash to HTML5 - modern browser required

Almost every screen/window has had a UI redesign

Login has been changed to use existing browser cookies for authentication. You are no longer required to manually login to LS every time, but must only be logged in normally through the website.

Added Auto Hold Attack feature that is enabled by default. When you click a monster to attack, it will continue to attack until the monster dies, or you choose another target. This is identical to click and hold, except you no longer have to hold the mouse down (or press and hold on mobile).

Control/Settings:

You can now configure how many Quick Slot Items are displayed in the top bar in the settings page (0 to 9)

A hotkey for opening the Market has been added. Default is M

A hotkey for opening the Shrine has been added. Default is H

Regular click on Door (without Ctrl) is now default to return to town

You can now Ctrl-Click an item in the Market slot, Vault slot, or Skill slots to clear the box.

You can now specify the join level range limit when creating a group. Default is 5 and minimum is 3, maximum (subject to change) is 99.

Added a setting to disable Auto Hold Attack in the Settings window

Gameplay:

Maximum experience gained from a single monster (EPs, bosses, etc) increased by 50%

Game play adjusted to be considerably easier for new players for lower level monsters

v1.29.2 release notes- Adjusted odds on map mods- Increased quality on treasure chests- Increased quality on map drops- Fixed an issue where welled items would sometimes be delayed from showing up until subsequent fights- Fixed a bug where wells and trapdoors would sometimes not show up when entering catacombs, or engaging after a fight- Fixed a bug where the dummy pilot would not restart under some conditions- Fixed Mirror Maze not spawning dopplegangers on last step- Added + Level Cap mod to maps, will increase the maximum level of items/monsters by this amount for the map* Example, a patched map normally has a level 15 cap, if the map had +5 Level Cap, the cap would be 20 for that map- +Rooms mod on maps will now guarantee at least that many rooms on the map- All objectives except Four Corners and Mirror Maze can now spawn and be completed on maps* Note that this offers up some new strategies for obtaining and completing objectives.

Please note that you may need to refresh/clear cache on your browser to ensure your client reads v1.29.2 at the login screen.

v1.29.1 release notes- Map "uber chest" now can spawn more items, with better quality- Map spawns have been improved at higher levels- Fixed +Warm Light Effectiveness to also work on life (was only working on mana)- Added map mod: + % to Swarm, gives this % chance that your fight will become a swarm after completion- Added map mod: + % Guild Points, upon completing the map, you have this % chance to gain a guild point.- Added map mod: + % Level Up, upon completing the map, you have this % chance to level up.- Maps can now spawn up to unique.- The explored portion of any map will now be visible to all members upon joining or rejoining, or while they were in town.* Note that trapdoors and wells will not be visible unless you were in the catacombs when they were found, unless you walk back over the square.

v1.29.1a:- Fixed ASE error on rejoining catacombs during a fight

v1.29.1b:- Fixes not seeing map if not driver

Please note that you may need to refresh/clear cache on your browser to ensure your client reads v1.29.1b at the login screen.

v1.29.0 release notes- Fixed a crash bug with logging out while skilling- Elemental Education and No Maze No More now spawn easier- Mirror Maze reward increased from 5-10 GPs to 7-15 GPs per person- Removed "max level" limit on all objectives. This was set to 99 for all objectives, which would not allow you to complete any objective once you were over level 99.- Increased odds to find multi-stat potions- (bug fix) Frostivil will use ability now

- Added an "All" checkbox next to the Refresh icon on the Groups List window that will allow you to list all created groups, even those that are full or outside your level range.* Note that this only lists groups when you click the refresh button. You will not receive auto notifications when groups outside your range are created.

- Map system (finally) added, opening more doors for more goodies!* Map items will now be given as rewards for exploring the entire maze. Level and quality depends upon what level you explore the maze at.* Maps will spawn with various bonus mods, and link to specific zones. Within those zones are specific monsters, native to that area.* When exploring a map, gameplay is slightly different. There are no random encounters for turning or moving on explored spaces, traps or wells. At the end of each map is an "uber chest".* Monsters will continue to level with you, up until a cap based upon the tier of map you are using.* Some of the map mods include: +Evil Presences, +Experience Gain, +Item Drops, +Item Quality, and more!* Please note that in order to use a map, you must be the leader and your entire group must be in town.

As an aside, the map system has been planned since mid-2010, with big inspiration from Dragon Quest 9. This was something that fit in well with my overall design plan on Ladder Slasher, namely, the ability to jump into instant combat action, while still having a sense that there is a world or something to explore. It also fit well within the already defined and designed monster eco-system, and compliments it nicely. As many of you already know, the DQ series has been a huge inspiration to my game designs, so this is just one more tribute to such a great game.

v1.28.3 release notes- Player idle times will now be correctly displayed in /who commands and similar- Players will now be disconnected after 1 hour of inactivity- Suffusencing minimum Enhanced Effect bonus increased slightly- Suffusencing now allows you to abort and keep a relative effect similar to cooking - note that failing (top bar reaching 0) will still destroy the items involved.- Suffusencing now gives slightly more proficiency per completion- Transmuting, Glyphing, and Suffusencing now can give slightly more experience per success- Fish will no longer auto stack during login- Added option to specify minimum % to auto stacking fish (same types still apply, and only applies to fishing), examples:0% will stack any amount50% will only stack sardines with 63 or more life/mana100% will only stack perfect catches

Please note that you may need to refresh/clear cache on your browser to ensure your client reads v1.28.3 at the login screen.

v1.28.2 release notes- You can now abort a transmutation without losing the item(s) if you did not click Transmute or Stabilize- Group join requests will now be sent/received while players are in the catacombs -- You must still return to town to join a group, however.- You can now create a group while solo in the catacombs- Pawfulgore now has a chance to use Paws of Fury (temporary +quick draw)- Uniscorchus now has a chance to use Inferno Eyes (temporary +fire mastery)

Please note that you may need to refresh/clear cache on your browser to ensure your client reads v1.28.2 at the login screen.

v1.28.1 release notes- Suffusencing now gives a slight +proficiency bonus when suffusencing items higher than your rank- The low end minimum Enhanced Effect for suffensencing has been doubled- Item drop window redesigned slightly to make more optimal use of space- Group invites will now automatically be resent out every 5 levels of the group leader in non-full groups- Fixed issue where certain items dropped to chat box could "freeze" up the client. Note that any item data that is too long will not be sent.- Fixed clawgel to properly use special ability- Glyger now has a chance to use Healing Hands (group heal)- Gigabee now has a chance to use Summon Swarm (call for help, 2x gigabee)

Please note that you may need to refresh/clear cache on your browser to ensure your client reads v1.28.1 at the login screen.

Data is cached and can be delayed up to 30 minutes, but this allows you to see at a glance the top guilds/players for the last X period of time. Also note that players not in guilds at the time of their MQ/guild point gain will not show in these rankings.

v1.28.0 release notes- Added a new secondary ability to Glyphing called Glyph Merging- Glyph Merging allows you to merge two glyphs together into one, combining their stats * Stats on two glyphs cannot overlap, eg, you cannot merge two +strength glyphs * You cannot merge two glyphs if either has Enhanced Effect on it (however, you can suffusence it later, if you wish) * The magical prefix will take the highest merged glyph value - it will not represent the number of stats on the item * The difficulty/proficiency of the glyphing will be based on the tier + number of stats of the two glyphs. Eg, two glyphs with two stats each combined will glyph at an "angelic" level- Evil Wells will now show up on the mini-map once discovered- Trapdoors will now show up on the mini-map once discovered (if you have a class that can avoid falling into them with you)- Mobs that gain physical or magical resistance buffs will now display a red or blue orb/shield briefly to indicate such- Fixed Treasure Pest mob to properly use special abilities again- Fixed a bug with paralyze where if it happened before your first attack, you would not be paralyzed- Fixed a bug with full exploring a maze and not being able move on the first step of the new maze without returning to town- Normal mob spawn range changed as follows: one person = 1 to 3*, two = 1 to 5, three = 1 to 7, four and five = 1 to 9- The "new player" detection has been adjusted so that if you have 0 MQ attempts for the season, only 2 regular mobs will spawn solo max, and only 1 EP (this nullifies and replaces the < 500 kills of the previous patch)- The objective A Pinch of Evil can now spawn for any sized group- The objective Ambush! can now spawn for any sized group- The objective Hack the Horde can now spawn for any sized group- The objective Stop the Seven Shamans can now spawn in groups sized three and above- The objective Slash the Swarm can now spawn in groups sized four and above- Foglime now has a chance to use Mistical Fog (temporary +physical defense party buff)- Seevil now has a chance to use Illusory Magic Mirror (temporary +magical defense party buff)- Azapnid now has a chance to use Octallusion

v1.27.2 release notes- Client now more accurately calculates hp/mp regen- Client now more accurately calculates and displays damage/heal ranges to include proficiency and + % mastery bonuses- The combat idle protection feature has been adjusted to move players to town rather than disband their group- The objective A Pinch of Evil has been tweaked to spawn a bit more frequently for players- Mobs that duplicate/call for help will now spawn in random locations rather than sequential- Fixed an issue where a client could be disconnected due to inactivity at the character select/creation screen, or master quest- Added more preventative drag/drop reset capabilities to master quest screen -- in the event your key is "stuck", try clicking the key again, or the door* I still have yet to be able to reproduce this a single time, so hopefully this resolves the issue on the rare occasions it occurs for some people- Dunebug now has a chance to use Focused Inner Shell (temporary +heal mastery)- Darknice now has a chance to use Mana Drain

Please note that you may need to refresh/clear cache on your browser to ensure your client reads v1.27.2 at the login screen.

v1.27.1 release notes- Slightly increased the odds that more stats will spawn on items (eg, arcane, unique, etc)- Fish auto stacking now works with suffussenced fish- Fixed a client side display bug with fishing and combat (would should +fishing for weapon/charm proficiency gains if you left the fishing window open during a fight)- Fixed a bug where using an accessory charm could result in grossly high or low damage amounts- Torrentile now has a chance to use Torrential Twisters (multi-shot wind attack)- Moltengrabba now has a chance to use Fire Inside (temporary +fire mastery)

Please note that you may need to refresh/clear cache on your browser to ensure your client reads v1.27.1 at the login screen.

v1.27.0 release notes- Fish and comfreys now spawn with stats more strictly tied to the tier that spawns * for instance, a herring should no longer spawn with sardine level stats- The stats of fish you catch will be displayed briefly in the fishing popup window- The +prof text popup will now display the skill being used. Eg; +5 Glyphing- All mobs will now display their actual name, rather than a random name. Special battles will still be designated with unique random mob names- Ice Mastery can now spawn on items- Fire Mastery can now spawn on items- Lightning Mastery can now spawn on items- Earth Mastery can now spawn on items- Wind Mastery can now spawn on items- Element Mastery stats will increase the damage of that particular element, as well as increase your elemental resistance against damage taken for that element.- Magic Damage Reduction will continue to be an "all resistance" style mod, and it stacks with the individual ones for defense purposes.- If your effective element reduction total is over 100%, you will absorb the % amount over 100. For instance, if you have 105% fire mastery/MDR, you will absorb 5% fire damage.- Evil Presence mob counts will now better reflect the party size (slightly less chance of 3 during solo, for instance)- Only single mob Evil Presences will be allowed to spawn for new solo players to help ease them into the game. (New is defined as < 500 kills -- so this also helps with new HC characters)- The objective Face the Evil was tweaked again to spawn for players more frequently than previously

New Monster Abilities:- Bloodrat now has a chance to use Blood Transfusion (chance to gain temporary life steal)- Magaton now has a chance to use Heal Twin and Critaboost (temporary +critical strike)- Fizzypup now has a chance to use Fast Fire (double fire attack)- Frisp now has a chance to use Flittering Flames (chance to replicate when hit)- Tonguerus now has a chance to use Heal Frenzy

v1.26.2 release notes- Fishing pond now remembers previous rod used- Added auto stack fish option in settings that will auto stack same tier/type fish (applies to fishing and cooking) * This will try and stack like piles, life with life, mana with mana, and rare with rare -- will stop working once you reach a max stack size * This feature is currently off by default, but may be turned on automatically in future updates. Please separate fish stacks accordingly and explore the feature now to make sure you understand how it works.- All monsters now have a variable reaction time for their first attack. This means that some monsters will attack a bit faster for their first attack, but some will be slower to react than before. * This is on a per monster basis, not per group of monsters. Ambush! objective will still all get first attack. This also only affects the first attack, not subsequent ones.- The /find command and dialog now work up to level 255- Doubled the max amount of +Guild Points that can spawn on a totem- Catacombs map size now caps correctly at higher levels

New Monster Abilities:- Frostivil now has a chance to use Snowballs (double ice attack)- Rocktopus now has a chance to use Flailing Tentacles (multi target strike)- Tornalisk now has a chance to use Wind Balls (multi-shot wind attack)- Sinseerical now has a chance to use Elemental Evasion (blocks all magical damage for a few seconds)- Goocidic now has a chance to use Gooify (blocks all physical damage for a few seconds)

Please note that you may need to refresh/clear cache on your browser to ensure your client reads v1.26.2 at the login screen.

v1.26.1 release notes- Players that are temporarily paralyzed by a monster attack will turn blue and fade back to normal color -- this should help distinguish between lag and paralysis- You will now receive +1 Guild Points for reaching experience level 101 (+2 for hardcore players)- Re-added /find minLvl [maxLvl] command and it works outside of groups- Find players window is now separate from group list window to allow for searching outside of groups

New Monster Abilities:- Hornicorn now has a chance to use Front-row trample attack (physical) and Rear-ender (back kick to back row)- Camouslauge now has a chance to use Splitting Personality (chance to split into a duplicate when hit)- Glazier now has a chance to use Ice-sickle Attack (physical + ice) and Necrotic Ice Breath (multi-target)- Gustfly now has a chance to use Whirl-wind Gust Attack (party knock-back)- Hieramosickles now has a chance to use Honed Edge (temporary +weapon damage boost)

The monster contest will continue and be updated accordingly.

Please note that you may need to refresh/clear cache on your browser to ensure your client reads v1.26.1 at the login screen.

New Monster Abilities:- Doomglider now has a chance to use Double sickle slice (physical)- Gigapede now has a chance to use Gigagashing (multiple attacks)- Posiaclawn now has a chance to perform a special ability

A new end game challenge has been unlocked and added for everyone. Monsters will now continue to get stronger beyond level 70, allowing for some high level races and challenges. Your achieved higher levels will actually mean more than vast amounts of time, as well as offer new rewards towards higher drops and bonuses. More rewards, goals and bonuses are to come after this update.

v1.26.0 release notes- Removed mob level caps - this will allow for some true high level competition and bragging rights, as well as increased drop rates as one climbs higher- As per above, Mobs will continually get stronger beyond level 71, which unlocks some challenging end-game battles (and rewards -- more to come)- Proficiency gain is no longer capped at experience level 70, however note the additional difficulty and risk of death- Increased experience gain for groups of 1-4 respectively to help balance vs full groups (double or more bonus to what it was prior to this patch)- Fixed high level character display in various locations- The objective Face the Evil was tweaked to spawn for players more frequently than previously- Objectives enabled/completed text messages changed to a yellow color for better visibility

New Monster Abilities:- Electrowisp now has a chance to use Blink Evasion- Shocktooth now has a chance to use Electric Bite (physical + lightning)- Mantaprey now has a chance to use Neurotoxin Tail Attack (paralysis)- Sunwisp now has a chance to use Plasma Exchange (fire counter attack)- Needleback now has a chance to use Thorn counter-attack when physically hit- Repelican now has a chance to use Electrical Conduit (always reflects lightning damage taken with a lightning attack)- Bloodbunny now has a chance to use Reactive regenerative heal- Lavoulder now has a chance to use Fire Fist Attack (physical + fire)- Twintile now has a chance to use Intertwining head strike (double strike)

A contest for the monster abilities will be posted shortly. Also, if you guys could create a topic where you provide feedback on the relative difficulty as you increase beyond 71, so I can make sure the numbers fit your real world expectations, as well as gauge future rewards (71+) that will better fit real world scenarios.

Enjoy, much more to come, hoping to get back to regular updates to get the monsters all out there, so I can move on to the next big phase.

- Explore the Maze level requirement lowered to level 1- Mirror Maze guild point reward has been doubled- Sneaky Shell now has a bit less life- Fixed the calculation for the cooking "Minimum To Skill Up" tip on the client- Treasure Pest now gives an additional bonus upon completion- Down Arrow/S will now turn you around (180 degree turn)- Trapdoor/Well will now be shown when you turn in a room that has one- Maze walls/floor colors adjusted to better match overall catacombs feel

edit - Nov 24th 2012: (v1.25.1b)- Freaver now has a chance to use Freezing Scythe Strike (physical) (slow)- Mobs with the ability Call For Help can now use it if they are a normal or special mob

Make sure your client shows v1.25.1 at the bottom right of the login page. If it does not, you may need to refresh or clear your cache.

Still not the "big one", but I decided to try and get back to incremental updates as much as possible, and figured out some ways to do so that will hopefully put updates out more frequently. In any case, I am pleased to announce v1.25.0 for your playing pleasures.

v1.25.0 release notes:

- New "3D" catacombs map system implemented- Mini-map revamped to accommodate new map display- Maze controls have changed slightly to accommodate the new maze system (Up moves forward, Left/Right turn left or right)* Note that random fights can occur by simply turning directions.- Well placement in catacombs adjusted to appear part of the maze- A trapdoor is now visibly drawn on the ground when detected- Cooking has been adjusted so that you will still gain proficiency longer per tier. Example: You can get to rank 4 on tier 1 fish, rank 9 on tier 2, rank 14 for tier 3, etc.- High level characters (>127) will now show the correct level in View Ladders- Combat Proficiency gains have been tweaked slightly to allow for more gains overall- Added new objective: Bits and Pieces- Added new objective: Treasure Pest- Fixed a bug in Slash the Swarm- Settings keyboard bindings updated to reflect new catacombs key functions

New Monster Abilities:- Wind-o-shade now has a chance to use Blink attack (teleport)- Electangle now has a chance to use Tangling tentacle evasion (position swap) and Call For Help when injured (random)- Aqueous now has a chance to use Water condenser (shrink)- Chargon now has a chance to use Multi-target Breath Attack (fire)- Huntaguar now has a chance to use Wind Fist Attack (physical + wind)Monster abilities will be updated here when they are discovered by the community: https://ladderslasher.d2jsp.org/index.php?g=21

Remember, this is just an incremental update, there is tons more to come, as I'm sure your imaginations will run wild with.

- Peaktrice now has a chance to use Partial Paralyze Attack (physical)- Albadross now has a chance to use Rock Drop Multi-target Back Row Attack (physical)- Clawgel now has a chance to use Multi-target Heal

Another contest to identify them and their abilities will be started here shortly! Good luck!

Turning on a few more monster abilities for you all to try and figure out. Will probably extend the contest to these here shortly!

v1.24.1 release notes- You can now change position while in combat, but there is a delay to do so- Alchemists online bonus is now displayed in the group hover player stats, if applicable

- Kangarel now has a chance to use Flee- Brrraptor now has a chance to use Multi-target Breath Attack (ice)- Porcuball now has a chance to use Multi-target Thorn Attack (physical)- Boaurora now has a chance to use Charge Attack Push to Back- Floraworm now has a chance to use Tendril Pull to Front Bite Attack

Make sure your client shows 1.24.1 in the bottom right at login. Some functionality may not work if you do not have the proper version.

Hello Everyone! This is still not "the big one", but we're getting closer.

v1.24.0 release notes

- The Shrine now operates closer to how it used to circa 2006 -- in order to heal higher amounts, higher level items are needed (relative to player level)- Vault purchases now have better gold logs to notate more details- Gold logs now convert LS Item Sales to links that you can click to view the items sale history- Fixed incorrect calculation of EE stat on stacked items- Global notifications are now sent when another player passes or fails the master quest (including if they reset the ladder)- All players now gain a +2% experience bonus for every online alchemist for that core- Time in group is now shown under hover player stats. Note: Only relative to you joining the group, just like their stats- You can now click to select a charged ability icon to use it on your next attack without using hotkeys- Slugslider now has a chance to use Call For Help (slugslider) (more details on https://ladderslasher.d2jsp.org/index.php?g=21)- Trunkiller now has a chance to use Front Row Multi-target Swipe Attack (physical)

See if you can figure out which two mobs perform which abilities! Good luck!

Previously I posted some teasers regarding monsters. Each monster has an actual name, with abilities associated with it. This is the beginning of transitioning to that.Please do not post "suggestions" on ability changes or what other monsters could do, until all of them are released over the coming months.

Hello everyone! This is not "the big one" that I am still working on, but it does have a lot of nice updates none-the-less. I am still chugging along on the bigger updates (forked out, so I can get as much done in pieces as possible), and hoping to continue more frequent updates in the near future.

In the meantime, here are the 1.23.0 changes and notes:

The Vault is now accessible in the catacombs and during combat

Added hotkey V for Vault (custom key configs will be reset in this version to accomodate)

Item storage summary shown on bottom right of each tab in vault

Added Magical level filter to vault withdraw search tab

Added Auto Deposit/Transfer setting, which when enabled will automatically deposit/transfer an item dropped/shift clicked into the box

There is now a bonus +days forum gold discount for purchasing bulk slots or extended time beyond 30 days on the vault (*note, guild transfers do not get this bonus at this time, see below)

Ambush objective frequency adjusted slightly

Sneaky mob adjusted to have less life, but more physical defense

Glyphing updated to be more tolerant of laggy client connections, will also be slightly faster completion for faster reflexes/connections

Added Catacombs Auto Dummy Pilot which will attempt to explore the maze for you automatically. Please note that it is as it says, and will not take the smartest routes, and may sometimes go around in circles, and does not have an explicit intent to explore every unexplored space. Also note that you will still have to engage between fights, and if you find a treasure chest. This feature is for those that "hate to drive", and have no one in their group that wishes to do so.

The follow are remembered until game refresh/reload (eg; same session):

Vault remembers and displays last viewed tab when reopened

Vault remembers last category selected on deposit page

Vault remembers last Vault # entered on transfer page

Added new checkbox to the Settings window to toggle Do Not Disturb (without having to use /dnd)

** As always, please be sure to play this new version thoroughly on softcore before hardcore.

Thanks everyone, and have fun!

Edit Jan 26 2012:v1.23.1 is also released:- Fixes numerous small glitches with the vault transfers- Adds a new configuration option that allows you to use just Click to exit the catacombs, instead of Ctrl-Click (Settings window, under Catacombs)

LS character profile pages now correctly show heal values of stacked fish/comfreys

Fixed Keyboard numpad assignment showing up as wrong key

Changing hotkey for quick attack and quick item slots now updates the label over those boxes accordingly

Assigning a keyboard hotkey value no longer causes the key list to scroll back to the top

You will need to refresh your client, so it shows version 1.22.1 in the bottom right corner on the login page. You may need to clear your browser cache, and/or restart it for it to properly download and update.

Drop quantity calculation has been rewritten and re-factored to be more dependent on the relative difficulty of the monster you are fighting (translation: more drops for harder mobs!)

Increased drop rate of totems

Pressing the Escape key while a text box has focus will now cancel focus off of that text box

Added a Keyboard configuration section to the Settings window. You can now customize/change existing keyboard hotkeys

Max market items under 20fg increased from 20 to 25

Fish/Comfreys will now spawn as a min * tier base as well as max. This means that the minimum values that can spawn will be tied more directly to the tier of the item. (No more 5 heal catfish, for instance)

Base Fish heal ranges have been changed from 5-50 per level to 25-100 per level

Base Comfrey minimum heal value increased

As usual, please return to the main LS index page, and click your resolution again if you have it bookmarked. v1.22.0 should show up in the bottom right corner of the login screen.

In the last few days, I fixed a handful of bugs, and introduced the ASE Error Reporting tool (http://ladderslasher.d2jsp.org/ase.php). I have rolled all of the fixes into an official release of 1.21.1, as detailed below:

- If Global/Local Storage was disabled in Flash, you could not login to LS. This is fixed; it now nags you to turn it on instead. (Storage is used to save various settings, such as the last logged in name, inventory arrangement, and various UI settings)- Vault Search - Close window bug fixed (if you searched and closed the window before the search results were returned, you'd get an error)- Ladder - Close window bug fixed (if you opened the ladder and closed the window/logged out before the search results were returned, you'd get an error)- Glyph with Mana Regen bug fixed. This should fix the ASE errors with glyphs!

Thanks to everyone that reported these errors, and your help in narrowing them down! (Especially the last one!)

Refresh and/or clear cache to get the latest version. It should show v1.21.1 at the bottom right side at login.

Hello everyone! I am proud to announce the public release of Ladder Slasher v1.21.0! See below for details.

- Experience gained in groups is no longer based upon action count. If you feel someone is "leeching", you can always kick them from your group (or not).- Stat points added to Vitality and Intelligence now give you the full +HP/MP no matter what level you put them in at. Example, +1 Vit added at level 2 will give you +3 HP.- Fish/comfrey stacks can now correctly exceed 65k total effect (client side overflow)- You now regenerate at the full rate while doing skills (still applied upon skill completion)- Door to leave catacombs changed to Ctrl-click instead of double-click- Critical Flux now works vs. Melee and Caster critical hits- Mob healing AI slightly improved- Bug fix: Mirror Maze client bug on final fight fixed- Bug fix: You can now use just the right box on skills that have two boxes but can have single item input (example: transmuting)- Bug fix: Fishing in the dark well no longer restarts client side regeneration- Bug fix: Suffusencing will now give you +proficiency points on a success (bottom bar complete) even when the top bar has reached 0- Magic resistance on regular mobs has been removed- "Free" group casting has been "removed" (see below)

- Added Abilities (3 per class) - Adds many new tactics!- Characters receive 1 ability point per 5 levels, which can be spent in any of the abilities. Spending points in primary class abilities will net you the best results, while classes at or below your class will result in less results, and class abilities above your class the least results.- For example, you gain +20% for the first point put into a class ability, +10% for the first point put into a non-class at or below your class, and +6% for the first point put into a non-class above your class.- There are three primary ability types: weapon, offensive charm, and heal charm.- Abilities can be assigned to control, alt, or shift, and then used once they charge.- Each ability has different attack/heal patterns, as described in their descriptions.- Each ability charges either by attacking (melee, charm), healing, getting hit, or getting healed.- When an ability charges, it's icon will appear to the left of your weapon slot (Q), with the charge percentage. You can use it according to the type and key you have assigned it to.- The higher the charge %, the more damage the ability will do. Abilities can overcharge up to 200%! Each ability has varying +Effect% bonuses.- For example, a level 1 barbarian puts his first point in Knockdown. This gives him +20%. He assigns it to the Ctrl key, by Ctrl-clicking it on the stats window. He enters combat, and fights for a bit, as it generates to 10%, then 20%, etc. At any point, he can use this ability, but he decides to wait till it is charges to 100%, then and he waits for 3 mobs in a row (horizontal), then ctrl-clicks to attack one, and it uses his ability, hitting all three mobs in the row.- You can learn up to three abilities at a time. All three can charge simultaneously.- Abilities reset when you reroll your character (or complete a master quest).- All abilities only take the regular time amount to use once they are charged. For instance, Multicast/Multistrike only have a 1 second cooldown. Please note that heavy weapon melee will still have the 2 second cooldown.- Returning to town or changing equipment will reset all of your charges. Plan accordingly!

A new portal category and complete guide on abilities will be added as time permits.

I have the ability to modify the effectiveness of abilities without restarting the server. This will allow me (with the players help!) to adjust, tweak, and balance each ability to perfection over the course of time. Going into this release, it is a given that not all of them will be perfectly balanced, but with the help of the community, we can make sure every ability is reasonably and well balanced against the others, so that there is never a single predominant choice that everyone chooses. I plan to create a reporting/polling tool to help with this. Also, please note that most all of these abilities will be changing over time as the game continues to progress through development stages. This will make more sense as future upgrades are made.

I also plan to create an ASE reporting tool, that will simplify all ASE reports and put them in a single location where I can review them accordingly.

The features announced in the previous version are still going to make it into LS, just not in this version. Also, the mob changes will still come, but have been postponed to at least the next release.

Releasing v1.20.1 with a few fixes and update:- Vault ASE error should been fixed- Glyph ASE error should been fixed- Added "Minimum To Skill Up" indicator for Cooking, Glyphing, Transmuting, and Suffusencing. This is the lowest item you can use to gain a proficiency point in that skill.

Refresh/clear cache on your client to get the updated version. It should display v1.20.1 in the bottom right at login.

Will continue working on resolving the remaining ASE reports, but these were the two big ones that people had been reporting. Enjoy!

Congrats to ironmind for resetting the softcore ladder! Welcome to Softcore Season 12!

(It is highly recommended that you play this version in Softcore before you try Hardcore. Some game dynamics have changed compared to past versions.)

Changes and New Features:

Client and server codebases have had complete overhauls to improve performance and reliability

Groups are now persistent, in town and out. You can now venture into the catacombs, and your position will be saved upon returning to town. You can create a group, then enter catacombs while you wait for people to join. Plus more that you can discover! Returning to town will not reset the map or fight (if you are in one)

Mob spawns in catacombs has been adjusted to be more strict based upon how many people are exploring. This makes it solo-able, and also more interesting for larger groups. All the bonuses for large groups still apply (the more in your group, the better!)

Find players dialog added and replaces the /find command (can only use it while you are in a group), double clicking a result will auto open a /msg to that user.

Upon exploring the entire maze, if your entire party returns to town, when you go back into catacombs, it will automatically transfer you down a level to a new map.

Most objectives can now be completed without a full group, and some can even be completed solo.

Falling through a trapdoor or exploring the whole maze and leaving cata and returning will re-initialize objectives that you can complete.

Drop qualities have been increased

Groups are now managed (and created) via the Group Tools icon in the bottom right of town (hotkey: F)

Any available groups will automatically be found and displayed when you first select your character

Damage and healing is now displayed in a new format, and you can tell who the source and target is.

When a charm is used, it is displayed on the screen, so you can tell when an enemy is casting vs. physical attacks.

Can now change equipment during combat

A skill icon will appear when a group member is doing a skill (eg, a fish when they are fishing, etc)

If a group member is not in the same location as you, their character will "fade out". This will indicate that they are in cata while you are in town, and vice versa.

Mobs now have a chance to drop items higher than their level. This bonus increases with group size.

Evil presence, certain objectives, and well mobs will now only drop magical or higher items

Life steal, life/mana per hit/kill now have a higher effectiveness in catacombs

If the client gets an error, will automatically disconnect you as a safety measure

Ctrl-click attack with a charm will group attack mobs, at a slower cast rate. Only works in groups of 2 or more. The more mobs, the slower the cast rate.

New objective added: No Maze No More, required level 55 to complete, must have completed Hack the Horde

A text notification will appear when another user uses a glyph on you

Well of evil has been removed from town

Dark pools can now spawn in catacombs, and function similar to how the well used to. You can also fish in it!

Removed some old mobs, and replaced with newer ones (see below for more info on future updates regarding this)

You will now receive notifications after you receive new private messages on d2jsp. ** Note, this is not real time, but updates roughly when your current gold amount does.

Critical hits are now displayed in red text

All melee weapons are now modified by a strength and dexterity combination, rather than pure strength or dexterity. Ratios are listed on the Weapons page on the portal.

PvP is now real time, and player position specific PvP is divided into 10 level rooms, for instance, levels 1-10 are in room 1, 11-20 in room 2, etc. Up to 10 people can duel at a time per room! Dueling is now HC safe, there are no deaths in PvP, only knock-outs. You must be next to your opponent to hit them (use the WASD or arrow keys to move) Melee requires that you are immediately next to your opponent (not diagonal!) Casting allows you to be 3 squares away in a straight line (not diagonal!)

And many other fun and surprises waiting to be discovered!

The Future:The next version will include a lot of new features that expand upon this version. Some of them include: PvP ranking/scoring, more interactivity, more continuity, and much greater challenges.

v1.19 is now ready for release! Please read below for the updates and changes. This includes some really cool new features that enhance game-play considerably!

- New Loot system added to catacombs. When a person clicks an item to pick it up, it starts a 5 second countdown on that item. If you also want it, click the item during the 5 seconds. At the end of the timer, the server will roll each player that clicked it, and the highest number wins the item. You can continue hacking/exploring while the timers are running, they do not halt gameplay!- Items will now last about 5 seconds after engaging in catacombs, instead of disappearing immediately. They will also last about 5 seconds between rounds in Hack the Horde.- Item Drops window is now resizable. Click and drag the bottom right triangle icon to resize it. You can set it to vertical, larger, smaller, etc.- Item quality bonus slightly increased for catacombs- /leader PLAYERNAME command was added. Use this to change the leader of your group, if you no longer wish to lead the party in the maze.- An asterisk * now appears next to the leader of a catacombs group.- Suffusencing now gives +proficiency points on abort, like cooking.- Cooking, Transmuting, and Suffusencing now remember stacks of items used when the "do again" button is pressed. This is handy for cooking stacks of fish, for instance.- Low cost market item limit increased from 10 to 20. This means you can have up to 20 items under 20fg cost. The unlimited items above 20fg cost still applies.- Critical Hits are now denoted with a ! after the damage amount. For instance, if you critical hit for 234, it will show "234!". Same thing applies to monsters that critical hit you or allies.- Arena Monster level auto increasing at level up is now turned back on. No need to go back to town between level ups to change the summon level.

Enjoy, and seeya soon for more updates. I plan to crank out some more in a few days!

v1.18.1 has been released. While only a "minor version" update, it contains some huge game-play changes. See below for the details:

- Offensive Charms now have a % chance to hit all monsters in catacombs per cast. The % chance is based upon your proficiency and the size of your group (full group = more % chance)- Market will now correctly let you have 10 items under 20fg cost, whether you have higher priced items already listed or not- Unsold (0fg) items on the market now count towards your amount, with a hard limit of 10, even if the item is priced at 20fg or higher- Using glyphs in the arena will no longer reset your MCC- Chatlog (L) now updates while open (do not have to close and reopen it, can just leave it open if you want)- Cap on unspawnable Life Steal items has been lifted (** subject to change again at a future time, of course)- Cap on effective EE now adjusted to be +20EE over the tier max. (This affects high proficiencies on high EE items, as well as unspawnables)- Client will now correctly display the "adjusted" damage/defense ranges of items based upon EE caps (per above).- Click and hold now works for Fishing, Cooking, and Transmuting- Proficiency points gained now displays after completing a skill (eg; +3 will popup within the Skill window, etc.)- Character class will now show up in a /find command following the character name (2 letter abbreviation, like catacombs)

Make sure you refresh/clear cache so your client says v1.18.1 at the bottom right corner during login.

Here are some of the changes/addons in this version:- Female characters have been added! You may choose female when creating a new character. On any existing character pre 1.18, you may type (once) /sex 2 to change your character into a female. This command is permanent!- All character faces have been updated- Various item graphics updates- Increased odds of finding totems in catacombs- Extra Items Slots stat renamed to Extra Equipment Slots

- Selling items on the Market is now account based instead of character based.--- There is a max 10 items that you may sell at a time, unless selling an item 20fg or higher in price. There is currently no limit to the amount of items at this price that you may sell.--- When an item expires off the market, you must manually go to the market and remove it from the market with one of your characters.--- ** Dying in HC no longer loses items on the market from a character

- Fixed a display bug with selling/changing prices of items on the market- Fixed a display issue with the Master Quest- Increased Fish Stack Sizes (doubled from previous sizes)- You can now stack uncooked fishes (cooking a stack of uncooked fish will remove 1 each time). This will allow you to fish for longer periods of time without having to stop and cook.

- Magical Defense is now visible and affected by armor type as follows:--- Robes have base 6 magical defense, Padded have 5, etc through Plate has 1 base. Enhanced Effect increases Magical Defense and Physical Defense.--- Magical Defense is increased/modified by Intelligence- Armor Pierce now works for Offensive Charms- Critical Strike now works for Offensive Charms- Charm costs have been reduced to +8 MP per tier (5, 13, 21, 29, etc)- Mana Syphon recovery range has been doubled (2 to mana cost)

This version is a huge upgrade over all previous versions. I converted the game client from ActionScript 2.0 to ActionScript 3.0, taking the opportunity to do a complete rewrite of it, implementing a lot of things I've been wanting to do for some time, but were limited by AS2 and unable to do so.

The first thing you'll notice is that everything graphically has been updated. Things will still be familiar, but much has also changed. I will try and highlight the changes below, but you may be better off just trying it instead.

Updates Summary:-- Complete client rewrite -- should operate much smoother, and faster on all machines!-- Pretty much all the graphics have been updated (thanks CTaulborg!)-- Modular layout, more control over customizing the positioning of windows, etc.-- Added a Settings popup (ESC key to toggle it)-- Moved chat logs out of a stationary window. You can toggle a movable chat logs history window with the "L" key.-- Drops appear in a popup (you can move this wherever you want.) You can toggle it with the "O" key.-- Spacebar still closes all popups.-- All items now display in an icon format, with text as follows:---- Top left = magical level (# of magical stats)---- Top right = item tier---- Bottom right = quantity (if applicable)-- All character images have been redrawn-- Characters now show the equipment you are wearing! This also applies to other players in catacombs!-- Catacombs has been updated; players now appear along the left side. Group stats popup when hovering on the Experience bar.-- To move position in the catacombs, click the arrow next to your name. Far left = back, far right = forward, middle = middle.-- To auto attack, click and hold the left mouse button. Down arrow requirement has been removed! This applies to all monsters and other players!-- Trashcan on the vault withdraw page, to quick delete items you no longer want-- Inventory Equipment moveable -- will save positions upon logging out for next login!-- Quickbar and Selected Attack also are saved between sessions-- Sort icons added to equipment and items-- To CHAT, press ENTER to open the chat box, type, then hit enter to send.-- Guild vault transfer day purchases are now logged and viewable in the guild logs-- Glyphs now show remaining time in a shortened form when in use.-- Viewing the ladder shows your character highlighted if on the ladder.-- Master Quest has been given a SIGNIFICANT overhaul and update.

Changes:-- Transmuting difficulty significantly decreased at lower levels.-- Mirror Maze now gives 2 to 5 guild points upon completion-- Fish/Comfrey stacks now total the amounts added, rather than averaging them. This will ensure that no amount is lost with high quantity stacks!

Bug Fixes:-- Fishing first action snag bug fixed-- Suffusencing a single fish or comfrey would not give it EE appropriately (stacks did work).

.. + more.. will update as soon as possible. Enjoy!!

(These changes will allow me to do much cooler updates in the future. The modular layout is optimal for allowing more things to be done/added!)

To play the new version, make sure you go back to the main portal (http://ladderslasher.d2jsp.org) and click the appropriate window size button. The links have been updated. This should help for people that had old version caching troubles in the past.

It'll be hard to miss a lot of the changes in this version, but I will list them anyway. Big thanks to Chris (CTaulborg) for help rendering the new town graphics, and some other minor graphics tweaks. (More to come!) I couldn't wait any longer, wanted to get some of these really awesome features released to you guys.

Here are some of the updates in this version:- Items can now be used in combat! (Glyphs, Comfreys, and Fish)- Fixed proficiency bug with wells- Added a new skill, Suffusencing (see below)- You can now stack Comfreys- You can now stack Essences- Greatly increased all max stack sizes (by at least 10x the original amounts!). For instance, a rank 0 fishing and cooking person can stack up to 20 fish!- Fish usage has a timer of 1 second between each usage. (Comfreys are still instant)- You now gain experience when using skills (glyphing, transmuting, fishing, cooking, and suffusencing!)- Regen works at 1/4 effectiveness while using skilling! (It will apply the healing at the end of the skill-up, pass or fail)- Quantity display added to items that can stack- /find with no parameters now works as a range of + and - 3 levels- Shift clicking an item on various screens will auto insert it into the target box (for instance, while doing most skills, in the vault deposit, etc)- Lots of client graphics updates, including a complete redo of the main town screen- New objective: Mirror Maze (portal updated with some basic teaser info- Add an Objectives popup in the stats screen that shows the objectives you've completed on your character- Some client cleanups and optimizations (much cleaner looking font, better performance)- Added a Quantity filter to the market place for the Item and Object categories- If the entire catacombs group is inactive in combat for approximately 6 seconds, the group will automatically be disbanded. This will help against lag spikes that affect the entire network.- Fixed some bugs regarding objectives being completed/available at the wrong times/levels.- Shift click now works for transmuting and suffusencing, for both slots. (Requires another client refresh)- Suffusenced fish stacks can now be larger. Normal fish stacks are calculated from the value of your fishing skill + your cooking skill on the fish stack chart. Suffusenced fish are calculated with Fishing + Cooking + Suffusencing. So, for instance, rank 0 in all three skills will allow you to make a stack of 31 sardines.

+ other small updates and changes

More info on Suffusencing:- Suffusencing is the magical art of suffusing a magical essence with another item. This is a new artform that has recently been discovered. When done successfully, it adds +enhanced effect to the target item. The follow items can be suffusenced: Fish, Comfreys, Glyphs. Please note that the item must not already have any EE on it. The higher the magical essence (Magical property), the more EE it can give to the item! For instance, a rare essence gives 2x what a magical essence does, and a mystical gives 3x what a magical does, etc. Make sure you match the tier on the essence with the item!

Added a /quality command, that can be used to set your client quality. This is useful if you have a slower computer. Check the command reference for more info.

No Maze catacombs has been removed (as it was originally planned to ONLY be a stepping stone into maze catacombs)

Drop rates have been increased (the rate at which a monster may drop an item)

Updated checkboxes on client to look more intuitively like a checkbox

Leveling up in Arena will automatically advance the level of the resummon monster, so you don't have to go back to town (MCC still resets)

Hovering over groups now shows who is in the group

/online will list how many people are looking for a group in a SC/HC format.

Rogues, Monks, and Ninjas can now detect trapdoors and allow your party to optionally use them or not. (Only requires that one of these characters is in the group, not necessarily the leader)

Added Objectives to the game (See Below for more details)

Added a Looking For Group (LFG) system. Each time someone creates a group that you could join, you will be notified, and be able to Join it directly by clicking the Join button next to the game in the bottom right section of the screen. The notifications will appear no matter where you are, as long as you are not already in another group. This allows both those creating games, and those that wish to join the ability to easily find others to group with.

Objectives are mini accomplishments you can achieve with your character. The criteria of each objective varies. Some simply require a certain level, others require completing a previous objective first. Completion of an objective will result in a reward to your character (which varies from objective to objective). As of this release, all objectives are obtainable only in the Catacombs. When an objective is enabled, you will be notified in the chat box window.- Individual details on objectives may be released later, but for now, explore them and have fun! See what you can figure out on your own! Please note that the first objective is enabled at LEVEL 5!- More objectives info is and will be posted here: http://ladderslasher.d2jsp.org/index.php?g=18

I am pretty sure I missed a lot of other small details, but will update this topic if I remember them.

[Updates]:- Updated Group Create Invite spam protection, you should no longer get spammed by people that create and leave a game repeatedly for the purpose of spamming invites.- Group invites should now be automatically removed if the group maker leaves (before engaging), or engages the group.

You'll need client 1.15.0 to login (clear cache/refresh if it doesn't show up).

Have fun!

Ladder Slasher and all content and images on these pages are owned by d2jsp and Paul Taulborg. You may not copy or reuse any of the content or images without direct written permission from Paul Taulborg. All rights reserved.